Conservation Northwest’s Post

🌟 Exciting News from Justice Jackline Mogeni on the Case of Slain Lion Olobor! Justice Jackline Mogeni issued a one-of-a-kind directive regarding the Slain Lion Olobor case filed by American Luis Franco. The ELC judge reiterated the responsibility of every person to conserve and protect wildlife resources. Justice Mogeni opined that since this is a sensitive matter and of global importance, it should be held outside the corners of a courtroom to allow any interested person to participate. Thus, favoring mediation in the form of a community hearing as opposed to courtroom litigation. In her wisdom, the judge directed that the mediation take place at a site where Olobor was allegedly killed. This decision ensures that the proceedings are deeply connected to the heart of the matter. The lion enthusiast community will finally get closure. Most importantly, Olobor will get justice. We encourage lion enthusiasts to attend the forthcoming hearing in large numbers. We undertake to share as much information as possible.#JusticeForOlobor #WildlifeProtection #CommunityHearing

Please help spread this post. Wolves are capable of transforming entire ecosystems for the better.

It's great to see RSPB taking a hard stance on this. Luckily there are few grouse moors in Wales (only one that I'm aware of, near Wrexham, where a gamekeeper was charged with attempting to trap a goshawk by North Wales Police as recently as March 2024). These amazing birds are poisoned, shot, trapped, for the benefit of a blood sport which in turn is responsible for untold damage to our ecosystems via lead shot and the many thousands of (invasive) birds introduced into the wild, never mind the intensive and damaging management of land for their sole benefit over the years. In the 1990s, a joint study between a shooting estate on Langholm Moor and conservationists in Scotland showed conclusively that without the persecution of raptors, the business is financially unworkable. A business built on a foundation of wildlife crime is no viable business at all. The claim by the British Association of Shooting and Conservation that this industry is worth £75m annually to the Welsh economy, seems a fairly paltry sum when compared to, say, the £272m which the outdoor recreation sector (specifically excluding bloodsports) contributes to the economy, of which £205m is retained in Wales (can this be said of shooting, where large estates with absentee landowners are the norm?). Is this the best argument they can make? 63% (!!!) of all confirmed raptor persecution incidents in Wales are linked to land used for gamebird management. And those are just the ones we've been able to link - it's notoriously difficult to prove these cases, and more difficult yet to successfully persecute. How this is allowed to continue, I will never understand. Let's keep our birds, and bin the blood sport. 🦅

How do people benefit from shooting estates? A very small number of people get a boost to their income. A few more get a boost to their egos from cosplaying being landed gentry. The rest of us get depleted landscapes, less wildlife and a worse environment. Restoring these moors would create more jobs, more wildlife and more value. We should start with the ones in our national parks.

I have a conflicting time in my line of work, given a family background in estate management, my own participation in sport shooting and my line of professional work as an environmental consultant when organisations make bold statements like this... To state directly on video that "some people are being employed to kill birds of prey" is untrue and a generalisation promoting a message which should be better presented. Raptor persecution does exist, its well documented. What is also well documented is the good that estates, gamekeepers and land managers do in terms of conservation, improvements to biodiversity and the more recent 'hot topic', rewilding. There is malpractice across every industry; bribes, back handed contracts, payments off the books etc, this isn't representative of an entire sector and yet here a picture is presented painting all estates and gamekeepers with the same brush, when in reality its very small minority of people who are guilty of the illegal killing of raptors, something which rest of the industry is disgusted by. I've worked across several estates in Scotland in my line of work, spoken with numerous keepers and land managers all of whom take great pride in their profession and who have been more than delighted to tell me about the rage of species they have present or where they know things nest from year to year and the number of pairs they've observed. In areas where management is done properly, for the benefit of biodiversity, and to allow managed sport shooting in tandem, raptor numbers are on the increase, something which could not be done if it were not for gamekeepers, and something which hasn't been presented as a fair argument in this case. I'll openly admit to sport shooting and enjoy crisp autumn/winter days out on a small syndicate farm shoot where every pheasant shot is taken home and eaten. And yet, as a professional environmental consultant - who regularly liaises with, and oversees production of reports and documents to be scrutinised by non-statutory organisations who make claims such as these - I an often torn between the two. On one hand, an industry which I know and am willingly part of, and on the other, an organisation I work with for and on behalf of my clients, all the while feeling judged by the other for my involvement with both sides. I'd be interested to see the response from the likes of BASC and The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust to the below statements - as ultimately raptor conservation is the goal here, why cant all organisations be wiling to work together for this? Then let Police Scotland wildlife crime unit do their job to bring more prosecution and thus more of a deterrent? I expect this may divide opinion amongst others within my LinkedIn circle (and beyond) related to each sectors.. ..but surly it cant just be me who at times feels this frustration and conflict?

As someone brought up on a mixed agricultural and sporting estate and still holding strong connections within this important sector, I know it provides essential environmental and ground predator control work. The land management practices by the gamekeeping industry enable the protection of ground nesting birds and of young livestock, along with crucial rural employment. Of course I want to see birds of prey protected and there must be suitably strong punishments in place for any environmental crimes. However, I share the concern and disbelief of such a bold claim that there is employment in causing ecological damage by way of illegally targeting birds of prey by an important Scottish sector.

We pride ourselves on normally being apolitical. We are a wildlife company, most people are not concerned about anything other than whether we can solve the wildlife conflicts in their property or not. We like it that way. However, on the first Monday of November of every year we always post the same thing: National elections are important. There is value in picking the right people to represent us on a state level as well. But what is often overlooked is the local elections in our counties, villages, townships, and cities. Local elections choose the people with the biggest impacts on our schools. Not the president. Local elections fill our judicial systems and decide what is right and wrong in our neighborhoods. Not the Vice President. Local elections are the report card we give to our commissioners, board members, and trustees on the job they have done serving our community. If you are going to the voting booth tomorrow (and I hope you do if you have not already voted), in addition to making decisions about the future direction of our country and our state, take a little time this evening and thing about your local community and decide who you think the right person for our villages, townships, cities, and counties is. I promise, tomorrow will be back to our regular wildlife content 😂

Today, Tomas Valadez, Azul's California Policy Associate, spoke at the CA Fish and Game Commission meeting to comment on the procedure for moving forward with #MPA petitions in Bin 2. We reiterated the need for the MPA adaptive management discussion to stay within the Marine Resources Committee and the important role the MRC plays in allowing more access for public participation in this process. For the first time since its establishment in 2012, California’s celebrated Marine Protected Area (MPA) network could be modified in ways that will strengthen or weaken it. This year, Azul, NRDC, and Environment California launched a mapping tool to show the proposed changes to the network. The California Fish and Game Commission and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife are reviewing those proposals as part of an adaptive management process initiated last fall. Check out the map and learn how you can get involved here: https://lnkd.in/g59GJbz9

Feelings overs facts - This is ONE example of 51,000+ signatures blinding defending a fully recovered species without any statistical or scientific data for the wolves in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. "Gray wolves in the Western U.S. face unrelenting threats from state policies that encourage widespread killing. Practices in states like Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming allow wolves to be killed almost without restriction, leading to drastic declines in wolf populations. Without immediate federal intervention, the future of the Western gray wolf remains bleak." We need to step up here - Join Hunter Nation today! https://lnkd.in/gZ2aZ_yf